Then I remember Tilly saying, “This is the children’s war. Saving the animals.”
I have to save Hanno, don’t I? So I have to be brave. I don’t have a choice.
I don’t want Papa to be ashamed of me when he comes over to England.
The worst thing in the whole wide world has happened.
Britain has declared war on Germany!
Now Hanno, Lotte, and I can’t possibly go home, and maybe Mutti and Papa can’t escape until the war ends.
Lotte said last week that I’ll be sent away to the country with Tilly and her school next Tuesday because London will be bombed by Germany. It’s called evacuation.
Uncle Don frowns all the time now and always seems angry.
He and Auntie Irene want to kill Hanno and send me away, don’t they?
No one wants a German boy or a German dog now that they’re at war with Germany. It’s so unfair. It’s not my fault Hitler wants to take over the world.
Lotte doesn’t really understand either. All she can think about is turning seventeen next year.
“The minute I’m seventeen, the absolute minute,” she tells me, “I’ll pack my bag, walk out of the Greens’ house forever, and go and be a nurse. I’ve already got the forms and everything. I know exactly what to do.”
She’s said it so many times I’m fed up with hearing it.
When I start to moan at her on the street this morning about how I’m going to be sent away and I’ll miss Hanno so much, she gets mad at me again.
“You’re so selfish, Rudi!” she yells. “All you think about is yourself.”
I start to cry, but she doesn’t comfort me.
She just keeps on yelling. “Don’t you care about Mutti and Papa and all the German Jews stuck with that monster Hitler and those crazy Nazis? If Britain doesn’t win the war, they’ll come over here and round up all the Jews. Don’t you understand, you idiot? If the Nazis win, we Jews will never be safe!”
Her face goes very red and she’s shaking. She doesn’t give me a hug or anything when we say goodbye at the corner.
Lotte doesn’t care about me anymore.
I’m just a pest, aren’t I? I’m in everyone’s way.
As I walk off to the hideout I think, Hanno and I should run away and find a really good hiding place from the Nazis. They might land any day now.
When we arrive in the clearing, Tilly and the other kids are standing around not saying anything, looking sad.
I think it’s because of the war, but then Tilly says, “I’m sorry, everyone, but there’s no one to look after the pets when we’re evacuated. We’re just going to have to set them free to fend for themselves.”
Sidney catches my eye and I mutter, “Nein, no. Hanno won’t go.”
He shrugs and goes off to feed the tortoise.
We don’t play Tarzan all day. I take Hanno for a walk in the woods and try to think of a plan for running away. I want to ask Sidney, but he spends all day at the top of his favorite tree with Miles. I even play my bugle a bit to cheer myself up, but it sounds hollow and strange under the big trees.
The sun starts to go down and I’m already late for tea, but I don’t care. The Evanses don’t want Hanno and me, so they won’t care if I miss tea. More food for them.
It grows dark in the wood. I feel scared all by myself, so I sling my bugle around my back and call to Hanno, and we go back to the clearing.
Everyone is standing around Tilly, but this time they all seem really excited. People are patting each other on the back and grinning.
Miles hands Sidney some money.
“Rudi, mate,” says Sidney when he catches sight of me. “Tilly’s got a smashing plan to save the pets. We gotta go and ask a posh lady for help, but she lives miles away. We need some cash to pay my mate Len to take us in his truck. You got any money?”
I don’t understand everything, but I have a silver shilling in my pocket that Lotte gave me last week. Maybe it could help save the pets and Hanno.
I pull out the shilling and hand it over.
“Danke, mate. Smashing!” Sidney says. “Come on, let’s go.”
Once we’ve settled all the pets for the night, we set off. Everyone has a bike except me. I sit on Sidney’s seat, my legs sticking out on each side, and he pedals us across the fields and over the canal. It’s completely dark and there isn’t a spot of light on the street.
“Don’t bump into the lampposts and trees,” warns Miles. “They have white lines painted around them.”
I hadn’t noticed before, but there are white lines on the curb too, so people won’t have accidents in the blackout. Very clever, I think.
We stop at Sidney’s place, and he goes to fetch Len. Soon we’re bumping along the road in the back of the truck, which is open to the sky. We munch some apples that Tilly passed around.
It takes ages to get to the lady’s gate, nearly half an hour, someone says. When we jump down from the truck Tilly points the way through a big gate to a long, dark path.
“We have to go up that drive to the house,” she says, and we all follow her.
I have a flashlight in my pocket and take it out.
“That’s really useful, Rudi,” Tilly says in a low voice.
Papa would be proud of me, I think. Even if Lotte hates me now.
The drive winds through a lot of trees. It feels quite creepy, and then we can see the outline of an enormous mansion, as wide as half our street. All the windows are blacked out for the war but there must be loads and loads.
These people are very rich, I think. Maybe Tilly thinks they have enough space to look after all our pets. Hanno doesn’t take much space, and he only lived in an apartment back home in Germany.
The others don’t seem as surprised as me when they see the house. Maybe lots of English people are rich enough to live like this. Sidney is leading the way; we follow him around the side and in through a small door. Then we have to stop because we hear men’s voices. Sidney turns around and puts his finger to his lips but we’re all too scared to make a sound. I’m holding my breath, and my knees are shaking.
The voices fade away. We go out of the room into a big square hall with doors on each side and a huge staircase coming down the middle. Tilly is trying to work out which door to open when we hear the men coming back.
“Quick, hide!” she says in a loud whisper.
Miles grabs my arm and pulls me behind the stairs, but the men spot Sidney. He runs off.
We all hold our breath. I’m so scared. Then we hear a door open and a lady’s voice. After a minute the door closes.
Tilly looks around at us all and she whispers, “Everyone stay here. I’ll go by myself. Sidney will be fine. He can take care of himself. If anything happens, make your getaway with Len. That way I’ll be the only one to get into trouble. They’ll never know you were here.”
No one moves. All I can think is how completely brave she is, but I’m very worried about Sidney and even more worried about someone calling the police. If they find out I’m German, what will happen? Lotte will definitely never speak to me again.
Then Miles says, “Don’t be silly, we’re in this together.”
The others all agree, and even I whisper, “Ja!”
Tilly gives a big sigh and shakes her head. Then she stands up and says, “Come on, then, better get it over with.”
We all stand up too and move out from under the stairs. Tilly leads the way, marching over to the door and pushing it open.
My legs are shaking again as we go into a living room with two very posh-looking ladies sitting by a big fire.
Tilly starts to speak, but I can’t really understand most of it. Then suddenly Sidney runs into the room, chased by the two men, and slithers across the floor. It’s very funny, but I don’t dare laugh. Tilly looked terrified. Miles sticks his hands in
his pockets and turns red.
But one of the ladies—a very nice one with pointy eyebrows—sends the men away and asks Tilly to introduce us. She has a deep voice. She listens carefully to Tilly.
When Tilly says my name, she explains I’m German but not the enemy. I give my bow, and the lady gives me an approving look.
Then the lady says, “I work with an animal charity, and we’re saving as many pets as we can. We completely disapprove of putting all these healthy animals down. And you children”—she looks around at all of us, nodding—“you seem to understand that we all have to pull together to defeat Mr. Hitler. I believe you children have the right qualities to help win this war.”
Tilly nods, and the others look very serious. I nod too, so the lady will know I’m not a Nazi.
“I’ll take all the pets,” the lady goes on. “I’ll send a truck at seven tomorrow morning. They will be looked after at my country home.”
Tilly thanks her, and everyone grins.
The lady seems to understand that I’m a good German, not a Nazi. She’s a bit like Sidney’s mum, only with nicer clothes.
The best thing is that Hanno’s going to be saved again—that’s three times all together!
It’s like a huge sandbag has suddenly slipped off my back.
We run down the dark drive and climb onto the truck. As we drive home I wonder what on earth I’m going to say to the Evanses about staying out so late and making everyone worried.
Papa said to us the night before we left, “The British will be remembered forever for saving our Jewish children from Hitler. Don’t make them sorry for taking you in.”
As we arrive back at our streets I think, If I run away, the Evanses will feel sorry they ever gave me a home. They might think Jews are not very nice people.
I’m so tired I can’t think anymore, and then I see Lotte running down the street. She’s crying out in German, “Rudi, my darling little brother! You’re safe! Oh, thank God! Thank God!”
She grabs me and almost squeezes me to death.
So I don’t think she really hates me, does she?
Carry a flashlight in the blackout.
Support the war effort.
Never forget you are Jewish—Lotte told me that.
Make a best friend. My best friend is Sidney.
I’m going to keep making notes even though Papa and Mutti are stuck in Germany for now. They’ll really need them when they come over.
I’m on the bus going to be evacuated to the countryside. Tilly and her friends are sitting behind me. No one has any idea where we’re going.
Sidney and Neville have already gone away with the whole school. But Mr. and Mrs. Evans wanted to make sure I had a nice family to go to. That’s why I’m on Tilly’s bus. Sidney’s mum and Baby Tom will go later, once they’re all settled somewhere. Sidney said he’s worried their mum won’t find them, and I don’t blame him. No one tells us anything, just like back home in Germany.
Auntie Irene and Uncle Don hugged me even harder than Lotte on Sunday night.
“We thought you’d run away, Rudi, lovey, because you were frightened about the war starting,” said Auntie Irene, wiping her eyes on her apron.
“You don’t need to be scared,” said Uncle Don in his kind voice. “You’ll be safe in the countryside, and Auntie Irene will come and visit you. That’ll be fun, eh?”
I nodded. They really do care about me, and they honestly don’t care that I’m a Jewish German boy. They’ve made sure I have a nice family to be evacuated to away from the bombing once it starts. I know now that they weren’t the only grown-ups to decide they must put their pets down. Alec told me that thousands of people are doing the same thing all over the country. It’s utterly despicable, as Lotte says.
But in the end, I saved Hanno. That’s all that matters.
Of course, they wanted to know why I was so late home. I said I was playing outside and we all forgot the time. They were so glad I was home, they didn’t ask anything else.
Lotte thought I’d run away because she shouted at me.
As we walked back to the Evanses that night, she said, “I’m so sorry I was angry with you, Rudi. I promise always to take care of you. I’d be very lonely in England without you.”
“Tilly said I was useful,” I say.
“You are! Honestly! Very useful. I absolutely can’t manage without you.” She gave me another hug.
A lovely warm feeling went through me. We’re all safe, including Hanno, and Lotte doesn’t think I’m a pest.
“Do I really have to go away again?” I say.
“Yes, but I promise I will write you lots of letters and send you parcels and come and visit whenever I can,” said Lotte.
Then she swung me around to face her. “Pioneers, right?”
“Pioneers,” I said, and we grinned at each other.
We’re out of London now and driving through the countryside. Tilly and her friends are whispering to each other behind me. At least I don’t have to go on my own, but I don’t really know my new family. Lotte says I have to be brave all over again.
I have Papa’s bugle in my lap. I take out my bit of rag torn from his old shirt and polish the bugle until it shines and shines, even around the dented bit.
Then I take out my notebook and write:
Be cheerful.
Show you are a good German, not a Nazi.
Sidney says Tilly’s a brick—a brick’s a really good person—very strange.
Keep practicing the Hebrew prayers so you don’t forget them.
This book was inspired by the little-known story of the destruction of pets at the outbreak of World War II in the United Kingdom. Some 750,000 pets were put down in the first few weeks of the war. People believed they could not feed their pets when rationing started and that the dogs would go mad in the bombing and bite people. The government announced that pets would not be allowed in the public shelters.
In doing my research, I read the story of two Jewish German children who had a place on a train to escape the Nazis but couldn’t bring their dog with them. They couldn’t bear to be parted from her, so they wrote to a British animal charity and asked the charity to take their dog and pay for quarantine. The charity agreed and the dog came to England.
My story about Rudi and his little dog, Hanno, was born.
Rudi and his sister, Lotte, came to England on special trains which became known as the Kindertransport. After Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 life became very difficult and dangerous for German Jews. Then on the night of November 9, 1938, Nazi gangs attacked Jews all over Germany. They killed almost a hundred and injured many others. The gangs set fire to synagogues and smashed the glass in Jewish shops and homes. This terrible night became known as Kristallnacht—the Night of Broken Glass.
Kristallnacht was reported in newspapers all over the world. Jews in many countries became worried about the German Jews. British Jews, and many non-Jewish Britons also, asked the British government to help German Jews. The government said that it would allow Jewish children from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia (which Hitler controlled) to come to Britain. When Britain declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, the transports stopped.
You can find out more about the Kindertransport at the links below:
The Kindertransport Association
www.kindertransport.org/history.htm
The National Holocaust Centre and Museum
www.holocaust.org.uk/kindertransport
There are also two books for children about Kindertransport:
Drucker, Olga Levy. Kindertransport (New York: Henry Holt & Company), 1992.
Hodge, Deborah. Rescuing the Children: The Story of the Kindertransport (Toronto: Tundra), 2012.
Miriam Halahmy
London, England
I would like to
thank the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and PJ Our Way for choosing this book for their wonderful program. Huge thanks to my publisher, Holiday House, and especially to my editor, Mary Cash, for her enthusiasm and her wise guidance in shaping this book. As always, deepest thanks to my agent, Anne Clark, who has given so much support to my writing.
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